Safety razor



July 17, 1951 E. J. GRAY SAFETY RAZOR Filed Nov. 13, 1945 INVENTOR Edward-J Gray ATTORNEYS Patented July 17, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY RAZOR Edward J. Gray, New York, N. Y.; Irene Carol Gray executrix of said Edward J. Gray, deceased 22 Claims.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide a safety razor and blade combination, the elements of which are simple, rugged and inexpensive in construction, dispensing, with the hinged or other movable blade clamping cap, and admitting for the fabrication thereof, of the use of known razor manufacturing equipment with but minor modifications therein, which razor permits expeditious mounting of the blade unit thereon without danger of injuring its cutting edge, with inherent retention of the blade, however thin and flexible, to assure the desired stiffness at the cutting edge thereof and with adequate drainage facilities, in which the cutting edge of the blade is inherently guarded when apart from the razor, thereby to preclude injury to the user or to the towel in handling and moreover to simplify both the original packaging and the ultimate disposal of the used blade.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the safety razor with the blade unit in position thereon,

Fig. 2 is a view in transverse cross section, showing the blade in the process of being applied or removed,

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the blade unit in mounted position, and on line 3--3 of Fig. 1,

. Fig. 4 is a dropped perspective view of the two elements making up the head,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the blade unit,

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the blade guard blank, and

Fig. 7 is a detail view of a modification, shown in section, similar to Fig. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, the blade unit comprises a generally rectangular blade II] which may be and preferably is a segment of a Gillette wafer type blade, either of ordinary or ultra-high spring steel stock, of half or less than half the therewithv a U-shaped bail l3, which extends along and clears the lateral edges M as well as the cutting edge l2 of the blade and normally lies in the plane thereof and frames the same. Preferably the guard has a part integral therewith by which it .is clamped to the blade, and which also performs the cutting-edge-clamping function of the razor cap that in various commercial forms of safety razor is commonly sup r .posed over theblade.

In a preferred specific construction, the blade guard comprises a unitary blank of sheet metal desirably of resilient metal which may be nonferrous if desired, such as hardened brass, generally rectangular in form as shown in Fig. 6, and symmetrical with respect to its median fold axis a--a. The guard blank folded on said median line aa embraces the blade I0 and, as shown, is of length and width as thus folded, which is greater than the corresponding dimensions of the blade, the corners of the guard bail near the ends of the cutting edge [2 being desirably rounded as at I5. The two leaves of the guard blank have a U-shaped slot therein, the base l8 of which slot exposes the entire length of the cutting edge l2 including the ground or sharpened area thereof, and the legs l9 of the U-shaped slot expose the area adjacent the major length of the lateral edges M of the blade. Thus the unitary blade clamping guard has blade clamp leaves l6 and I1 superposed over preferably all of the blade area except the cutting edge and the lateral margins and from the ends of the folded edge a-a beyond the lateral edges of the blade, the U-shaped guard bail I3 extends along the lateral edges and the cutting edge of the blade and substantially in the plane thereof, that is, the sharp cutting edge [2 is substantially in the plane of engagement between the superposed U-shaped bail portions [3 that are integral with the two clamp leaves [6 and I! of the guard blank.

The doubled over leaves of the guard are in direct clamping engagement with each other as at 20 adjacent the fold edge a-a for a width rearwardly of the rear edge H of the blade l0. Desirably the guard has a median shallow notch 2| therein at its rear edge for positioning the blade unit in manner more fully described hereinafter.

Both blade clamping leaves of the guard are desirably stiffened adjacent the cutting edge I2. Such stiffening is effected by ribs, preferably embossments along and adjacent to the free longitudinal edges 22 of the clamp leaves. Preferably the embossments are ribs or ridges 23 extending convexly outward at a narrow area between the edge 22 and the main area of the blade clamp leaves l6, IT.

A safety razor head construction of my invention that has a specific and particularly intimate coaction with the guarded safety blade just described and is particularly and uniquely designed for use therewith, willnow be described. This razor desirably has a handle 24 and a hoe-type head 25 extending at right angles thereto. That head is desirably formed with means for clasping the blade unit, such clasp means being both at the forward and the rear edges of the head, and at least one of said clasp means being preferably resilient. The blade unit is thus resiliently and removably held on the head by clasping said unit between the forward and rear edges thereof. The clasp-means arersopositioned rela tive to the. razor" head that the: guarded blade when in place thereon is anchored at its bail, with the cutting edge of the blade extending,- thereabove. Preferably the face of the head has an upstanding ridge formation 26, desirably interrupted as three or more. segments near its.

front edge, to be straddledzbybail 13;. so: that when the guarded blade is in place on the razor,

the cutting edge [2 and the a'djac'entclampdeaves l6, ll are deflected by such ridge formation. u-p.--

wardly out of the planeof the guard bail 13 for shaving.

.lna specific and preferred construction shown, the head is composed of a molded, forged; or cast block 28, the face of the latterpreferably sloping downward from its rear to its forward edge; and a=sheet metalholder or base 2'! therefor. The base and theblock are combined. into a subassembl'y, the blade-cl'asping? members being unitary parts of the. base; For. this purpose; the base. may comprise a stamping. desirably of spring brass, upon which rests the underf'ace of the block, the block having two lateral lugs 29 unitarytherewith, protrudingiforward from the front edge thereof and desirably also a; central lug 311- midway thereb'etween. The front of the base has-.blade-retaining means; desirably anupward- I'y bentiflange. 3| hookedover lugs 29 and 30 and bridging therebetween' along the block. The upperv edge offlange 31 desirably is inclined inward somewhat at 31 as shown, .abo.ve.the' upperfaces of said lugs 29; 30. The length of. flange 3| between the lugs 29 and330 isdesirably spaced from the main area. of the base by longitudinal. slots 32; as shown. The rear edge of the base 21 has an. upstanding tongue or' leaf 33,. desirably bent upward and inward to an acute angle with its lateral edges lodged in.a shallow notch 34 in the rear edge of the block, and with its. upwardly protruding resilient end formed with a blade"- engaging transverse. shoulder .33 preferably pressed therein. Thus the .base with its bladehooking flange 3!. and its blade-claspi'ng leaf 33 is preassembled .as a unit with the block to: make up'the razor head. Laterally of. the leaf 33;; the rear of the block is desirably hollowed out to provide finger notches 35.

.-.The handle 24 desirably has an upstanding screwstud 36 passing through a central aperture 3T in the base of the head and'threaded into a corresponding socket 138 in the block.

For.use,; the guarded blade is. positioned, as

best shown in Fig. 3,, with its guard bail I 3 resting. on lugs 29 and 30 of the block and against .the bIade-hookingflan-ge 3'1 .of the head. The

rear edge of the blade unit is now pressed. downwardover the resilient forwardly convex holding 33 which. centers the. blade unit by'register-' ing in notch 21'. In this depression, the ridge 26 on the face of. the head engages the longitudinal ..rib..Z3.-.of the lower blade clamp leaf t6,, and as theblade is. pressed downward. atits rear edge pressure is. thus exerted across the-width ofthe guard unit and not on the cutting element 0- Thecutting edge I2 is, however, stiffened in its deflected position against deflection from a straight line, by the stiffening ribs 23 of the clamp leaves that embrace the blade near its cutting edge l2. The width of the blade-hooking flange 3] held against the leaf determines the. angle of incidence. of the. blade in shaving. The wide. open space between the. cutting edge l2, the guard bail l3 and the slots 32, longitudinally through the base 21 adjacent the bladehooking flange 3|, precludes clogging and affords-ample clearance for drainage.

To remove the. blade, the index finger is held under-.theblade unit: at one of the finger notches 35 and the holding leaf 33 is pushed outward withth'e thumb. As soon as the rear of the blade hasthusbeen unclasped, the blade unit, by virtue of the resiliency of the blade and of its clamp leaves, immediately. resumes normal or undefie'cted position in which: the cutting edge I2 lies within the guard bail l3. When'the'blad'e is then removed and handled; there-is. no danger of injury to the user or to the towelin drying.

It will be. understood that' the leaf 3% maybe provided with a series of transverse shoulders 3'9, in any of which the rear edge of the blade unit maybe claspedforadjustingto aj-more acute shaving angle; than the usual angle determined by pressing the; blade unit all the way down against the. face of the shavinghead; as shown in; Fig. 7.

The blade head is of the utmost simplicity in that it involves but a single uni-taryhead piece with no removable or hinged cap piece. What commonly serves" asthe blade cap is effect the guard clamp 45, H which ispart: ofthe blade unit. The combined blade and guard unit is of little ifany greater cost for materials and labor than is the familiar Gem type blade with its backof edge-piece While the guard" piece requires, more-metal= then the Gem type edge piece, the more costly blade element requires lessm-etal; The'guard is clamped about theblade with as great. facility as is the edge piece of the Gem type blade, and" in fact but little modification in the manufacturing equipment" for assembling the Gem'typeblade, is required-to render it suitable for assembling-the blade unit of. the present. invention.

The blade unit of. the. present invention is applied to, the razor head and removed therefrom withxgreater facility than in. conventional razors. because it is simply laid down against theforward hooked flange 3| and pressed, toward the head. There is no need for applying. a removable cap piece and turninga handle to. tighten it, or of opening or closing a hinged cap piece.

. Sincethe cutting, edge [2, (If-the. blade. unit i so wellshielded by the guard Is that it. is sub.- stantially proof .againstinjury to the user as above pointed out, the blade need not be. wrapped in the. original. package but may, be enclosed unwrapped in. a suitably slotted box. Moreover the danger of dulling the cutting edge in the process of. wrapper removal is completely: obviated Eur- .thermore, the. guarded blade of the present invention completely solves the troublesome. problem ofblade disposal, as the used blades canbe safely thrown into a waste basket.

As, many changes, could be made in. the above construction and. many apparently widely different embodiments of thisinvention could be. made without departing from 'thescope qithe. m5, it is intended that an matter. contained 'mthe above description or shown in the accompanying drawings, shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

' Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A safety razor comprising a handle, a head, a blade and guard unit comprising a resilient blade having a cutting edge and an edge guard unitary with said blade and lying in the same plane as said cutting edge, means rising respectively from near the front and the rear edge of said head for releasably gripping the longitudinal edges of said blade guard, and a ridge conformation on the face of said head maintaining the cutting edge of the blade deflected out of the plane of the edge guard.

2. A safety razor comprising a handle, a head, a blade and guard unit comprising a resilient blade having a cutting edge, and an edge guard unitary with said blade and lying in the same plane as said cutting edge, said edge guard having integral therewith registering blade clamp leaves, at least one of said leaves having a stiffening rib longitudinally and near the edge thereof closest to the cutting edge, means rising from said head near the forward and the rear edges of the latter for releasably gripping the corresponding edges of the blade guard, at least one of said means being resilient, and a ridge conformation on the face of said head engaging the lower of the clamp leaves and deflecting the clamp leaves with the interposed cutting edg out of the plane of the edge guard.

3. A safety razor comprising a handle, a head,

exposed, said clamp leaves having stiffening 'embossments longitudinally thereof at the edge adjacent the cutting edge of the blade, blade and guard unit holdin clasps rising from near the forward and rear edges of the head, one of said clasps being resilient, said clasps engaging the longitudinal edges of the blade and guard unit therebetween, and a ridge conformation rising from the face of the head near the forward edge thereof for maintaining the cutting edge of the blade and the associated clamp leaves deflected out of the plane of the edge guard.

4. A safety razor, comprising a handle, a head I thereon, a spring metal blade having a cutting edge, a guard unitary with said blade and completely embracing the entire periphery of the .blade and of width slightly less than that of the .head, said head having coacting blade-retaining conformations to grip the longitudinal edges of said blade, at least one of said conformations being resilient, said head having means maintaining the cutting edge of the guarded blade deflected out of the plane of the guard.

5. A safety razor, comp-rising a handle, a head thereon, said head having blade-retaining means protruding upward from the forward edge thereof and having a blade-engaging resilient leaf spring protruding from the rear edge thereof, a blade unit comprising a blade With a cutting edge and a guard therefor, means releasably affixing said guard to said head, said guard completely encompassing the periphery of the blade and in the plane of the cutting edge thereof, said guard being slightly less than the width of said head,

said head having a conformation on its upper face, deflecting the cutting edge 'of the blade upward out of the plane of the guard.

6, A safety razor, comprising a handle, a head at right angles thereto having a blade mounting face with a forward inclination, a blade unit comprising a blade and a guard member therefor unitary therewith, said guard member-having a portion aifixed to the blade and a U-shaped bail framing the cutting and the lateral edges of said blade and substantially in the plane thereof, said guarded blade being slightly less than the width of the face of said head, clasp means at the forward edge of said head engaging said bail, resilient clasp means at the rear edge of said head engaging the rear edge of said guarded blade resiliently to mount the same in position, the face of said head having a ridge conformation deflecting the cutting edge of the blade out of the plane of the guard bail.

7. A safety razor, comprising a handle, a razor head comprising a sheet metal base and a block superposed thereover, said base having a flange having an inturned edge unitary therewith at the forward edge of said block, said base having a resilient upstanding leaf engaging the rear of the block, a blade unit comprising a blade having a cutting edge and a sheet metal guard therefor, embracing the back edge of the blade, overlapping a substantial area of the blade and having unitary with the ends thereof a U-shaped bail encompassing and framing the lateral edges and the cutting edge of the blade, said blade unit being of width equal to the width of said head with the inturned edge of said flange engaging the bail of the guard and the leaf resiliently engaging the rear edge of the guard, the block being conformed relative to the base to maintain the cutting edge of the blade deflected out of the plane of the guard bail.

8. The combination recited in claim 7, in which the handle has a screw stud extending through .an aperture in the base and threaded into the block.

9. The combination recited in claim 7, in which the leaf fits in a corresponding groove in the rear edge of the block.

' 10. The combination recited in claim 7, in which the back of the guard has a notch accommodating the upper part of the leaf and registering the length of the guarded blade in respect to the head.

'11. The combination recited in claim '7, in which the flange extends the length of the head and the head has lugs at its opposite ends engaging and holding said flange, and the sheet metal base presents a longitudinal slot extending between the lugs and spacing the base proper from the flange.

12. The combination recited in claim '7, in which the rear edge of the block has finger notches laterally of the leaf.

13. A safety razor head assembly, comprising a blade supporting block generally rectangular in plan with an outer face inclined forwardly, a sheet metal holder for said block comprising a plate on which said block rests, said plate having a hook conformation straddling the forward edge of the block and extending inward above the face of the block, said plate having an upstanding tongue unitary therewith gripping the rear edge of the block, said tongue having a resilient leaf extending above said block.

14. A safety razor head assembly, comprising diblade supporting block; generally? .rectangiflar injplan with an outer face inclined; for.ward1y'..a sheet: metal holder for said. blockpcomprisingg a plate on which. said block rests, said blockhavmg-slugs. protrudingiforwardz from: the ends of. the front. edge. thereof, said plate having: a; flange with an: i'nturned edge, embracing: said lugs. and bridging therebetween; said. plate having; amupstanding tongue: unitary therewith',sengaging the rear edge. of; the block, saidi tongue having a resilient leaf extension. above said; block; the; base plaztewsubstantially conforming to the base. area the block; and. presenting a. longitudinal slot separating the length of the. hook conformation betweenthe; lugernbracing ends'thereof. from; the

base proper.

' 1 5.2. A. safety razor head assembly; comprising ablade supporting. block'generally rectangular inplan. with an. outer-face inclined forwardlya sheetmetal plate on which said: 'blockrests, said plate having a flange with an intu-rned' edge "straddling the forward edge of the block and extending: i'nward above the face of the block, :said plate having an upstanding tongue unitary there- =Withengaging the rear edge of the-block and having a protruding resilient leaf extension,the

block-having a groove at the rear edge thereof inwhich the tongue is lodged and having finger grooveslaterally of the groove.

16. A guarded bladeunit, comprising'a cutting blade member and a sheet metal guard therefor, said guard having leaves clamping saidblade alongsubstantially the entire length of and including a U-sh aped bail portion integral therewith framing the cuttingand the lateral edges" of sheet metal encompassing said blade,said guard clamping said blade between the. sides thereof,

said guard including as an integral part thereof a .U,-shaped-. guard bail. extending about and framing, the. cutting and the. lateral edges of the blade and in substantially the. planethereof.

18. A. guarded safety razor blade unit, comprising, a generally .rectangularublade with. a

cutting. edge, aguard unitary therewith, said guard being. of sheet metal andv having two similar superposed leaves joined along, oneedge 1 thereof, each of: said leaves being of length and -widthgreater than the'length and width respectively ofthe blade, saidleaves securely-clamping. the blade therebetween, said leaves presentin'g u-shaped slots along. and exposingtherentir-e lengthof thecutting edge and along:andexposing substantial lengths of the lateral: edges of. the blade. and defining a U-shaped guandz-bail extending. about, framing. said lateral and. cutting edges and substantially in. the. plane thereof.

19. The combination recited in claim. 18,, in which the joined edge of, the guard extends be.- yond the rear edge of the blade and said joined edge has a shallow median positioning notch therein.

20. A guarded safety razor blade unit, comprising a generally rectangular blade. having. a. cut.- tingedge, a guard unitary therewith, said guard comprising a generally rectangular substantially U-shaped sheet of. metal having similar leaves which has a length and. a width greater than the length and width respectively of the blade,

the leaves of-ythe guard having registering. U-

shaped slots therein exposing the entire length of they cutting edge. and substantial portions of the contiguous lengths of the lateral blade edges, said leaves securely clamping theblade therebetween and having longitudinal stiffening con.- formations near the cutting edge of the. blade.

. 21.. The combination ofa safety razor and blade comprising a handle, a head therefor,..a blade having a cutting edge, a guard affixedto theblade and. presenting a bail portion substan.- tially in the plane of the-bladev and extending about the cutting edge thereof, said guard. having blade clamp. leaves and having embossed stiffening ribsalongthose. edges thereof adjacent the cutting edge of the blade, said. head having means clasping the forward and rear edges of said guard,,the face ofsaid head having an upstanding ridge conformation engaging and .defleeting the cuttingedge. out of the plane .ofthe guard bail.

22. A safety razor comprising a head having clasp means. protruding from the. forward edge thereof and fromthe rear edge thereof for grippingthe correspondin edges of a guarded blade therebetween, said head having a ridge conformation. near its. forward edge for deflecting the guarded cutting edge to operative position, the rear clasp. having a. plurality of blade engaging teeth transversely thereof for selectively fixing the cutting angle.

EDWARD J. GRAY.

REFERENCES CITED 'The. following references. are of record. in the file. of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,047,617 Cress Dec. 17, 1912 1,066,497 Humphrey July 8, 1913 1,233,105 Myatt July 10, 1917 1,963,649 Chadwick .June 19,1934 2,020,116 Greenhouse Nov. 5, 1935 2,050,371 Page Aug, 11,, 1936 2,056,717. Flagg Oct. 6,. 1936 2,311,913v Testi Feb. 23, 1943 

